Armidale and NEGS

I did do some teaching in Australia. Apparently I didn't take too many photos, but here's the lovely town of Armidale:

This is where I lived

Here's an evening shot of the music block

One of the neighbors

And the chapel

I realize that it's a little silly that the only photo I have of the music block is at sunset, but this is typically how I saw it, if not later in the day, so that's an authentic memory.

Maybe this is something that people in the US do and I've just missed it, but a bonfire is a very Australian thing.

I got to go out to a farm with my friend Julia one weekend and we cooked stew in this massive pit. They spread coals from the fire along the bottom and then covered the skillets with more coals and they basically cooked like a slow cooker only even better.

On my last night in Armidale we went out to celebrate one of my roommate's birth day and here is a photo of my lovely roommates (and friends):

Sydney - Days 2-3

On Tuesday I went to the Museum of Modern Art where I saw this:

And this:

And several video art pieces which, to be honest, are not really my thing. Though, I think that this might be obvious by the fact that I'm gravitating towards comic book heros and horror story characters.


There was also this:

Which made me laugh.


I ended the day by going to see a ballet at the Sydney Opera House. The first piece was a modern dance, the second one was a dance narrated by people who couldn't quite remember the story of "Swan Lake," and the last was based on a traditional Aboriginal Australian story and aboriginal dance. I made the mistake of leaving for the ballet without my umbrella and, though it wasn't a downpour, there was a definite steady drizzle happening. Happily, this meant that I showed up at the opera house tired from an day of running around the city and also looking not entirely unlike a homeless person. This is actually a lot more fun than it sounds. I like to imagine that all of the beautifully-coifed people in their formal wear were at least a little discomfited by my damp and frizzy appearance. It's like two shows at once!


On Wednesday I discovered the best part of Sydney, China Town and Paddy's Market. I call it "the best" because it is the best. It's the best. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures because I was too excited to be there...because it's the best. Imagine a building made entirely of Hello Kitty and filled with yummy, delicious sushi. That's kind of what this was like. The only downside? The movie store had no Jackie Chan (boo!).

Lots and lots of birds - 1

One of the biggest differences I've noticed between Australia and the US is the massive number of birds they have here. It isn't that we don't have birds in the US, it's just that the birds native to Australia are completely different than North America.

This is a rubbish photo of a Galah.  There was a whole flock of them just hanging out on the sidewalk, but I ran out of batteries and didn't do a wonderful job of getting the one shot I did take.

Here's an Ibis hanging out in a park in downtown Sydney.  I got to see more of these at the Healesville Sanctuary down near Melbourne, which is where most of the rest of these photos are from.

Here's a photo from my last day in Sydney:

I saw this Rainbow Lorikeet hanging out at the restaurant where I got breakfast.  I think it's playing with a sugar packet.  There were a couple others, but they didn't stick around long enough to get any more photos.

Here are some photos from Melbourne:

bird's eye view of a bird (see what I did there!?)

a Yellow-Crested Cockatoo

a Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo

A Barking Owl

Two very blurry photos of a female Eclectus Parrot,

and a very blurry photo of a male Eclectus Parrot.

The females are colored to camouflage themselves when hiding in shadows in the rainforest, while the males are colored green because they fly around through the trees and bring food back to the females to try to impress them.

How to speak Australian - part 2

Aus - sounds like Oz, short for Australia

Aussie - sounds like Ozzie, short for Australian

hossie - pronounced hah-zie, short for hospital

ute - pickup truck

lolly - a sweet or candy, could be a chocolate bar or a gummy candy or anything other snack-sized sweet

jelly - jello

Aussie rules - soccer similar American soccer, but with different rules, in case talking about ball sports wasn't confusing enough

net ball - looks deceptively like a basket ball court, but don't be fooled, you're not allowed to bounce the ball in this game

bum bag - fanny pack, if you are still willing to walk around wearing a fanny pack, never, ever, refer to it as such.

fanny - it's not the part of the human anatomy that you think it is.

bar (ie. a bar of music)- measure, don't use measure, no one will know what you're talking about

quaver - eighth note

crochet - pronounced the way it looks, not the fancy French way. This is a quarter note

minum - half note

semibreve - whole note

Sydney - Day 1

I got to visit Sydney the second week of break. Unfortunately, it rained most of the week. Fortunately, there are a lot of things that you can do inside in Sydney.

I arrived late in the evening on Monday and climbed a massive number of stairs while lugging my suitcase. Having not gotten my bearings, I went to the pizza place next door for dinner, which, luckily, was delicious and ended the night with a movie.

Here is a picture of the hostel from when I arrived:

Here are some views from the balcony outside my room:

some nearby buildings

the Sydney Opera House

the Harbour Bridge

As you can tell, I was right there in the center of things. I did get better at taking night photos later on.

Sound the alarm

This is what wakes me every morning:

And this is what it sounds like:

Only longer and louder and more of them. The first morning when I woke up, I thought that it was an alarm going off to wake up all of the boarders. These birds are everywhere. They kind of remind me of squirrels on the Mall in Washington DC, creepily acclimatized to people. Think Children of the Corn with wings and you're on the right track.

how to speak Australian - part 1

thong = flip flop

g-string = thong

rubbish = garbage

iced coffee = "coffee with cream"

cream = ice cream

I'll tell you which one of these threw me most - the iced coffee. Luckily for me, I watch a lot of British television, so when my co-op took me to Big W to get some basics, such as shower shoes, I didn't bat an eye when she took me to the back corner of the store and said that I could get some thongs there. However, when one of the music teachers and I went to get pizza at the Fish Bowl and I ordered an iced coffee, I couldn't figure out why her latte took less time to make...until they brought out my cup. Not, of course, that I was disappointed.